Artist Unknown
by LeviAckerman42
Summary: After years of being tortured after his capture by the hidden leaf village, Deidara is no longer able to produce the beautiful artwork he once made, but aren't the most beautiful creations made by those who have felt pain? Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**I promised myself I wouldn't do this. I truly did…but then I read a fanfic and it gave me an idea and I just had to write this because I'm in this phase of Naruto. This fanfic will most likely contain violence, maybe spoilers (not sure about the spoilers) I'm not sure how long I plan to make this. Possible shippings (most likely not, but I don't know) Enjoy! Also, I am not following the actual story line of Naruto for your information.**

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Deidara looked from left to right, his ponytail swishing gracefully with the movements of his neck as he sought out his partner who would save him from this predicament. He was trapped against a tree with no clay in stock and chakra almost completely depleted, not enough to make a simple move. Five ANBU warriors stood in front of him with swords held out in order to stop him from any movement necessary to retreat. What looked to be a woman with the mask of a cat stabbed his right shoulder, shooting pain throughout his nerves and willing him to sink into unconsciousness as his mind raced for a haughty sentence to spit at them. "Well," his lips finally seemed to form. He was shaking. "Your art seems to have caught up to mine."

The ANBU didn't make any noise in response. _Bad ending line of mine_, thought Deidara. _Guess this is it for the greatest artist known to the Akatsuki_, he told himself as the middle of the five set their katana in front of his bloody face. Instead of sending a final blow, he felt two arms wrap around him, scooping him up and carrying him like a child who was having a temper tantrum after not getting the toy they wanted. It was hard to breathe in such an odd position and he knew he was too weak to fight all of them. Deidara waited for his partner, Sasori, to come rescue him, but he never came.

* * *

Half of the time he was carried, he was asleep and trying to restore some of his much needed chakra, but the blood loss was reaching his bodily functions. He would remember falling unconscious at one point and being forcefully woken to be fed as his hands were now tied behind his back. For a while, he had to admire the way they tied his hands, how perfect the knots were, and for fun he decided to see which one of them tied him up. Deidara supposed that the small female's hands were the creators of such artwork and that he needed to see her face now. Smirking to himself, he remembered of how he was only nineteen and still a reckless child in spirit.

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"Lady Tsunade," said the tallest ANBU of the group upon the arrival of their destination. The Hokage peeked up from her paperwork, looking at the ANBU with sharp blue eyes at the mention of her name. "We've captured an enemy," he started. "A member of the Akatsuki organization, we figured he could be of some use if we were to hand him over to "them"."

"Gaishu," responded Tsunade with the twirl of her pen, and placing it in her mouth, chewed on the end of it nervously. "I appreciate the capture of the enemy, bring him to them. We could use more information on this Akatsuki group." The man known as Gaishu bowed his now shown head, placing the mask back on and standing up from his kneeling position on the floor. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade," he said before leaving the room and returning to Deidara who was busy insulting the designs of the ANBU masks, claiming they looked nothing like the animals they were meant to be.

"Alright you jerk," said Gaishu, picking up the smaller blonde and throwing him over his shoulder. "Time to go." Gaishu began to walk with the young Akatsuki member. _How could someone so young become so awful_, he thought to himself. "Let me go, un!" screamed Deidara, finally annoyed with being carried everywhere. "I can walk perfectly fine, un." After some coaxing, Gaishu finally set the boy down after the realization that it could very well be the last walk the Akatsuki member took.

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Deidara walked into a cold room, darkness flooded his eyes until there was nothing to be seen anywhere except in one small corner where a window set on the wall, barely big enough to light a foot of flooring. From what he could sense, the room was huge. Each step he took was followed by an echo, each breath a slight sigh in the atmosphere around him, and all at once he felt something deep in his chest. He was terrified for what was to come. Chains clanked across the floor and were set on his wrists, but he could not see by whom. His half ponytail draped down on his back in streaks of golden hair as the tie came undone by the mysterious shadow lurker.

"Gaishu?" His voice shook as he tried to sound braver than he was. "No," replied a voice so thick and deep that it almost sounded fake, like something no one could produce. The gargled noise swept through the air and hit Deidara in the face like a whiplash, until the Akatsuki realized his face stung. Another crack was heard and a searing pain flowered across his chest, enough to knock the air from his lungs.

Gasping for breath and not finding any, Deidara laid his head on his own shoulder in defeat. For the first time in his entire life he was in danger without a snarky comeback to give to the enemy. But for the first time Deidara wasn't scared by his predicament as he knew what was to come, he was petrified by the torture he was given. All for a single question: What is Akatuki?

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**Thank you for reading! Sorry this first chapter is kinda short, but it's more like a test to see if anyone will read it. I'll give it a week or so to see if anyone likes. The story will become more interesting and will be full of violent memories so be prepared. PM me for any ideas.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright so apparently the story plot was good enough because it wasn't even fifteen minutes after posting that I got my first follower! Thanks so much guys! Also, forgive any spelling errors (my friend told me I misspelled the last Akatsuki and that will continue to haunt me for eternity) as I don't pay much attention to them since there are so many red squiggles under the words they use in Naruto. I can't help it that Akatsuki isn't a normal word, computer… Anyways, hope you enjoy! Again, remember this isn't following the regular Naruto plot so some people that should be dead will still be alive. Not saying who…**

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It had been five years since his capture and the Akatsuki finally missed him, sending out Sasori to make a deal with the Hidden Leaf Village. Their trade off would be made in the confines of the building that held the missing member, and they were to trade body for body. Hiruko's hunched body stood next to the taller Leaf village member he promised to return once they decided it was time to claim back Deidara. They stepped in unison across the hard gravel as they neared the dark building; even the outside contained a strange air about it. He soon realized it wasn't any building; it was an abandoned insane asylum.

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There was a small door in the back of the building, black with iron bars covering the window. At the door, a man no less than six foot seven waited in all black clothing, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the dark gray wall behind him. His eyes shifted towards the oncoming people.

"Sasori," he said as he shifted his weight to stand straight, instantly growing taller. "I have our prisoner," replied Sasori's deep voice that was masked by his puppet. The strange man motioned for the prisoner to side with him as he unlocked the barred door, hinges creaking slightly as they stepped inside. The room they entered in was a small box, another door on the other side. He motioned past Sasori and closed the door, blocking almost every bit of light from escaping, and taking a flashlight in hand, the man keyed the door open. For the most part, the room was silent. The occasional creaking of floorboards as they walked and their footsteps made an echo about the room. The occasional sound of chains rustling caught Sasori's attention, making him wonder if any other prisoners were here.

The three finally stopped in front of what seemed to be a large shadow, instead being Dediara, which Sasori knew for sure. He could faintly make out the red akatsuki symbol and a wisp of the blonde's hair. Chains rustled as he stood up from his place on the floor with the help of the man in black, and they continued to rustle with the shaking of his body. Sasori couldn't remember a time when Deidara had been so quiet as to not have spoken a word for the few minutes they had been in the room. _What the hell have they done to him_, he asked himself.

"There he is," said the man. "And thank you for cooperating." Hiruko's large head nodded in response as he pushed Deidara along the large pathway to exit through the two doors. They entered the boxed room, Sasori not even thinking of how long Dediara might've been kept in the dark, until he opened the door. Deidara grabbed his eyes, shielding them and crying out in pain as soon as the sunlight hit them. The blonde fell to his knees in sobs as Sasori tried to help him out and ease him to the sunlight. Slowly, after several minutes, Deidara took his hands from his eyes and looked around him, taking deep breaths as he did so; this was the first time Sasori was able to look at his lost partner.

His hair was mostly white, face caved in from starvation; the fingers he used to block his eyes from the sunlight were callused and bony along with his wrists which where rubbed completely raw from the chains. Dried blood clung to his face like flower petals with scars like the thorns of roses against a paper white face. When his bright blue eyes opened, all Sasori could see was darkness. The once bright and childlike eyes that were determined to become Akatsuki material were now worn away from years of torture and harsh treatment, and all that was seen now looked like glass eyes.

As they walked, his hair fell in tangles around the torn Akatsuki cloak he still wore. The people they walked past gave strange looks to the two Akatsuki partners as they made their way out of the confines of the Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

It had only been half an hour before Sasori had to stop his pace in order to let Deidara rest. The boy sat against a tree, breathing heavily in the clean air of the world outside, shaking horribly in fear against the people that may come back for him and question him. All of those horrible moments flooded through his mind, outside of his head he was screaming loudly, scaring birds and even Sasori. Running to his side, he willed Hiruko to kneel down to Deidara. "Deidara, it's me, Sasori." The boy shook his head in protest as if Sasori was lying about who he was. "You left me," said Deidara's cracked and torn voice.

For the first time in forever, Sasori found himself guilty towards the truth. He did leave Deidara, but only because he trusted his partner would be able to escape as well. Instead, he tried to change the subject. "Did you tell them anything?" he asked. Deidara nodded slightly in reply, sending floods of anger out of Sasori. "You piece of shit! You were supposed to stand for the Akatsuki, not go against it!" The tail of his puppet lifted up to smack him, but thought otherwise when he began to shake harder and even form tears that cleaned away some of the blood. Was he really going to hit someone so helpless?

Deidara's body tensed and made him stop breathing for a split second, awaiting the blow he deserved. When nothing came, he spoke roughly, "I c-couldn't help it." With words spoken, his body made a spasm until his contorted hand reached up to fill itself with blood. "I c-couldn't-" Deidara made a horrible retching sound, lacing the roots of the tree with blood until Sasori forcefully made him stop talking. "Rest," he ordered, before leaving to find water for the boy. Filling up a clay jug of it, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his partner.

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**Yeah just…just yeah. Hope you liked!**


	3. Chapter 3

**For any of those interested, I will be updating The War Begins Inside on Monday when I will have access to the computer the last chapter was saved on. To answer the review from K (your second one doesn't show online either but thank you for the support!) The chapters will be shortish and updated shortly. They will occasionally become longer but I'm not really sure… There will be periods of time where I go a week without updating, but that only happens when I have major writers block and have no idea what to do with their lives. Also I will not be doing any OC pairings as 1) Terrible at making good OCs and 2) I need cannon character pairings to suit my life. Hope you guys enjoy! Was anyone hoping for male on male pairings or mpreg because I can do that but need to be requested to do that.**

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The trek home took two days, a trip that only should've taken one had they not stopped so frequently for Deidara's sake. He was tripping over rocks, coughing blood, talking to himself, the child was a wreck and Sasori knew it. On the night they stayed in a cave for shelter, Deidara began to have night terrors and became restless in sleep, but Sasori tried not to mind after what had happened at the tree.

Deidara had a constant rising fever along with hemoptysis* and chills, indicating the torture had made him sick and weak at heart. By the time they entered the Akatsuki base, Deidara was staggering around like a drunken man, unable to walk in a straight line and barely able to stand. Sasori led him to the showers and set him down, leaving and waiting to hear sounds from outside the door. Five minutes of silence until finally he heard shuffling and the sound of a faucet running water. Sasori left, satisfied with Deidara's cooperation.

* * *

"Deidara?" asked a soft voice from outside of the bathroom. It had been two hours since Sasori had left him there, the Akatsuki beginning to worry that he had drowned himself out of pain, but a slight mumble replied and set relief to the blue haired woman outside. "Sasori asked me to check on you, I'm coming in." Shielding her eyes with one hand, she fumbled with the knob and led herself in, making sure not to catch a glimpse of- he was still fully clothed and seated under the running water coming from the showerhead. Blood and dirt crusted the edges of the bathtub rim, but most of the contents still stuck on his face and hands.

Konan's face turned to worry as she edged closer to him, her movements careful not to startle him. The peaceful demeanor she kept decided that she would be the best to comfort him in his desperate time of need. Deidara paid little to no attention to the approaching feature, keeping a waxy look on his face as if he was made of clay himself. Again, his body retched and a pool of blood mixed in with the clear liquid, Konan's eyes widening in surprise at his state. "Let me help," she said, tugging the torn cloak from his body and pulling off his shirt.

The first thing she noticed were the infected wounds held across his chest, creating tears in the skin that looked like several other mouths to complement the one over his heart. Reaching for a washcloth, she wet it and washed free the dirt and blood mixture from them, careful not to hurt him. Deidara continued to keep his glossy glance, occasionally wincing at a tender area. She eventually moved to wash his hair clean, then finally turning off the water, helped him out.

* * *

Deidara was still shaking by the time they made it to his old bedroom. Being careful not to wake Sasori who was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, Konan slowly walked to the dresser which held the clothes that were now too big for the blonde due to weight loss from practical starvation. _Do puppets need sleep? _Konan asked herself, quickly shaking off the question. She didn't care to find out. All she knew was that Deidara looked exhausted from his adventure and that he needed to rest as soon as possible, but instead he picked up a ball of clay.

Its outer layer was mostly dried after years of abandonment, but the inside was untouched and perfect as Deidara worked around the rough edges to create a bird. It was pure and smooth as ever, not an inch of it was deformed, and the most intricate details were added to it, but moments after its creation it was squashed by its creator. His shaking increased, blood rolling down the corners of his mouth as he coughed harshly. "Deidara," Konan said as she hurried to his side. She laid him down on the bed, feeling the overwhelming fever escape from his skin as sweat rolled down in beads from his forehead. "A bird in a cage…" Deidara said softly enough for only Konan to hear. "Held in its own prison and tortured by its owners I'M THAT BIRD!"

The sudden rising of his voice made Konan's heart leap. He suddenly fell silent, eyes closing and drifting off into what could very well be a restless sleep. Before calming, he repeated the last three words over and over until his voice lulled him into slumber. The three Akatsuki artists were trapped in one room, but one was slowly fading away.

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Hemoptysis: Blood filling in the lungs.

**Konan was just trying to be nice but it may turn into a pairing. I don't know. Sorry for the long wait, had some stuff come up (video games. Had to unlock the five hokage's in one mkay? I just had to play as Tobirama. Had to.) and was not able to finish writing. Sorry this chapter is so short and again if you have mpreg requests just review. I will not be updating for the next two weeks possibly as I am going on vacation and can't take my computer. I will try to update tomorrow.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! I was having a case of major writers block and had no idea where the story would end up. I assume the plot line will begin to start right around here. Thank you for the support!**

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He could see nothing but darkness throughout the room. Every so often, clanking metal was heard scraping against the ground, followed by the moans of prisoners kept hostage in the asylum. Where am I...? he warily asked himself as he struggled to sit upright. His back was stinging with a burning sensation that felt as though a million pins were seeping into him. He moaned along with the prisoners.

In the distance he could make out a faint light that shone over the dazed faces of broken men and women, shrieking as the light blinded them for that split footsteps protruding from the man holding the light became closer and closer until- "GRAH!" he screamed as the beaming light blinded him. The man could see the outlining of his face that was stained in blood, his bleak and lifeless eyes, his dark red hair-

* * *

Sasori bolted upright, gasping for the air he did not need. What the hell did I just- his thoughts were cut off by a pair of blue eyes gazing over at him. Deidara was snuggled in a mountain of blankets and pillows that seemed to be protecting him from any outside air. All that Sasori could see of him was his face, allowing the image if him as a child to float through his mind. The puppet gracefully sat up, allowing the fake joints of his arms and legs to stretch as he grabbed for the black and red cloak that was draped over the edge of the bed.

"Get up, brat," Sasori instructed. "We have your first mission today." Deidara did so, causing an avalanche of pillows to occur. They both got dressed and went outside to start their mission, Deidara being unusually quiet the whole way.

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"Legend has it that the scroll of Eftuhia is guarded by an ancient spirit that can easily kill anyone who encounters it," began Sasori as they neared the entrance to the cave. "Be aware of your surroundings, and don't become scared," his tone was mainly annoyed as he placed his hands on a vine hanging over a single rock. From inside Hiruko, the puppet master began to chant what sounded to Deidara like a monk's prayer. A flash of blue light encased the rock and sent bits of it outward in an explosion. The two cautiously entered the vault of Eftuhia.

It was beautiful yet strangely creepy. The air around them had a distorted feel, anything they spoke turned to jumbles of letters in their mouths, the marble black stone they stepped upon would crumble at their feet, only to leave a footprint in the stone. Dark water fell into two streams at either side of the cave, leaking mist into the air and coating their skin with burning sensations. The flowers that hung from the vines around them turned and twisted in distortion which made the cave spin around as Deidara stared into their endless void, and with a crash he fell into a puddle of the dark water.

Hiruko merely rolled his eyes in disgust at the manner of his partner as he plucked the forbidden scroll from its place. He too began to see the spinning mass of the cave and collapsed on the ground as the mist from the black stream grew larger to form what seemed to be a black susano'o. The strange guardian took the scroll up and placed it inside of its distorted rib cage.

Sasori shakily took his place back on his feet, readying puppets for combat, nudging Deidara with one. The blonde shook the puppet away, swaying on two feet as he scooped clay into his palm's mouths. The boy was shaking at the dark yet brilliant creature he saw before him, almost in tears by the sight as he began to shake harder. Darkness reminded him of the endless black abyss that was known as the asylum he was kept in. And yet, he felt a bit better staring at it.

When the clay was ready, the mouths spit out a black substance that barely resembled his clay at all. It began to mold itself into a mirror image of the susano'o, sword flaring in the dimness of the cave as the two beasts stared each other down. "Deidara! What the hell!" screamed Sasori. "Feel the power of my art," Deidara said, letting his hands fly to the sky and sending the clay susano'o to attack the other. With one swipe of his sword, the protector of Eftuhia vanished into a cloud of mist.

Grabbing the forbidden document, Deidara looked to his startled partner with darker eyes than usual. "Sasori Danna," said Deidara. "We need to get the scroll back to base." Hiruko nodded in agreement, scared by what he had witnessed. What the hell has gotten into Deidara? he asked himself.

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**Sorry for the short chapter guys! I was distracted by watching someone in Naruto die about twenty times. *rewind...rewind* Probably just to make sure I didn't see them die. But I did... Can I activate my sharingan? Am I allowed? No? Okay well...I will try to update soon again! Sorry this chapter was kinda crummy...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much for the reviews! By the way, I would like to make the chapters longer...but I seem to have the attention span of a ping pong ball... Each chapter I write will be around 1,000 words long, but I will attempt to make them longer...So sorry!**

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He was gone. The blonde haired brat was gone. That's what Sasori got for falling asleep on lookout duty. The two were resting in the middle of the forest after Deidara's incident in the cave of Eftuhia, the boy must've gone for water. Stretching his rather short and wooden legs out, he got up, searching every dark cavern he could find until he was able to make out a blonde outlining of hair in the dark.

Deidara was crumpled on the ground coughing a large mass of blood into the clear (at least what appeared to be clear in the night) stream beside him, occasionally gasping for breath before beginning the episode once more. "I just came for a-" his words were cut off by the harsh coughing as Sasori hurriedly placed himself at his side. He could see the paleness of his face easily under the dim light of the stars, and some of the blood on his face. Sasori's double-take to make sure what he saw was true resulted in a minor heart attack within his nonexistent chest, for the blood he saw from the corners of his partner's mouth wasn't red. It was pure black.

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Kakuzu, being the only of the Akatsuki to have some notion towards medicinal practices, examined Deidara. He was unconscious after losing that large amount of blood, Sasori having to manually carry back the light figure on the back of Hiruko until finally they reached the base. "I'm not sure what happened during the little incident you speak of," started Kakuzu, "but I do know they shouldn't have sent him out so quickly. It should've taken him much longer to recover."

Sasori knew this, but the Akatsuki pushed him to leave anyways, despite knowing of his current condition. He still had nightmares and was reluctant to anyone touching him. What could've happened to him?

* * *

*in the past*

Deidara shook as a cold wind blew through the halls of the asylum, awaiting the prison guards to take him away for torture. How could something so awful happen to him? The beefy hand of someone grabbed his smaller bicep, wringing it forwards so that he would stand up and follow him to the torture chamber. There, five or so men stared him in the face, examining his body and wondering just how many different ways they could hurt the one before them. One of the men grabbed a whip, beginning to lash at him, tearing fabric and skin alike until Deidara felt mostly naked in front of them.

He suddenly became self conscious, knowing these men could do anything to him at any time and that he would be unable to do anything. The lights in the room brightened for a split second, allowing him to examine the gray and dull room before shutting off completely. Hands grabbed him, holding him still while other hands senselessly beat him till he could feel the blood rushing smoothly down his face. For the next day they fondled him, played with him, beat him till he began throwing up on the ground, and starved him for the next day. He was finally free to leave the torture and wait for the next poor soul to be done. It would then be his turn again.

* * *

*in the present*

Sweat rolled down in beads across his face like the blood he remembered from his days in the asylum. He woke up, screaming, thrashing, hitting anything that was near him, and sitting straight up to look into the widened eyes of Kakuzu. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?" screamed Deidara. "Helping you," was Kakuzu's answer. The blonde staggered out of the bed, clung to the wall for support and glared at Kakuzu with wild eyes to make sure he wouldn't stop him from leaving.

* * *

Deidara sat outside, basking in the warm sunlight with a ball of clay rolling between his fingers. He began to mold the clay into something interesting, the shape was an exquisite and naked figure with its hands tied behind its back. Moving his fingers over the soft material, he shaped the face and neck into smooth molds, adding the eye imprints and mouth to the face.

The stomach was skinny as well as the arms and legs which resembled only bones. Taking a small twig, he molded small imprints of ribs onto the person's chest, indicating starvation. Using the smallest edge of the stick, he added whiplashes, bite marks, anything you can think of, and for the final touch, a half ponytail at the top of the figure's head.

Sasori came outside, looking sadly at the boy sitting in the grass. He looked happier when molding clay, but he could see the figure from there and it definitely represented Deidara. "Is he naked...?" Sasori cautiously asked. Deidara nodded. "Were you raped in captivity!?" The blonde sputtered, choking and spewing blood from his mouth as it dribbled over the small statue he had made. "Do the memories hurt you...?" The boy nodded slowly, curls of unbrushed hair falling over his shoulders with each shake of his head.

The puppet sat beside him, deciding the boy needed comfort. Placing a hand on his back, he soothed him by rubbing around in circles until Deidara finally laid his head onto his shoulder. "Thank you, Sasori-dana," said Deidara softly before falling asleep on his partner. He was so sweet and vulnerable, and Sasori had an odd feeling brewing inside of him. It was hatred, towards the men that hurt his partner. His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of a small object rolling into his lap, the statuette Deidara had made. It was now covered in the blood he had coughed up, staring at him in real agony. It was just so odd of Deidara to make something unrelated to nature...unless...this was nature to him now.

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**I tried to make a longer chapter. I really did... It didn't work. So if any of you haven't realized yet, this is kinda the plot line and Deidara and Sasori will either become really good friends or REALLY good friends. PM me or review if you want a past sequence of Dei being raped or want Sasori and Deidara to get together. Thanks!**


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